Live Alternative Music Makes Mad Dogs Happy

Mad Dogs, 10815 Roosevelt Way N.E. Live alternative music nightly. Tonight, Dr. Unknown, Dog Daze and Sweet Sister Sam. Tomorrow, Red Platinum, Candlebox, The Livin' End and Peace. 9 p.m. showtime, $5 at the door. 362-1592. --------------------------------------------------------------- -- NORTH SEATTLE Mad Dogs club manager Eddie Jewell says he's breathing a little easier these days.

"Things are picking up at Mad Dogs. We're doing business. It was touch and go for a while there, we were buying tomorrow's beer with last night's receipts. Now we're about two weeks ahead and the rent is paid. That's pretty good."

When Jewell took over management of Mad Dogs last July, the club was still known as The Farside, but that wouldn't last. There was a copyright problem with Gary Larson's "The Far Side" cartoon strip. The club was renamed after the new owner, Gary Derr.

"Gary's nickname was Maddog in high school," says Jewell. "I had doubts about it myself. I mean, Maddog? Isn't that some cheap wine or something? But it's caught on."

The name wasn't the only thing Jewell had doubts about. He has successfully run clubs in Kent and Federal Way, but when he first looked at the Farside, all he saw was a room that was dark more nights than it was open. And when it was open, no one was there.

"There'd be me, the band and the sound man," Jewell sighs. "I was pretty worried."

Jewell says what made the difference was the band policy and just staying open.

"I know if the doors aren't open, no one gets in. As for the bands, well, I don't know that much about the new bands. Clubs where I had music, we had one band in for the whole week and they played cover tunes. Here, it's all original and we have a hundred bands a month! But it works."

The Mad Dogs roster boasts some very strong local names. Dr. Unknown, tonight's band, is a powerful, high intensity foursome. Roof rattling vocals and incisive instrumentation. Red Platinum, which plays tomorrow, is also a strong draw. The band plays a brand of funked-up attack rock with a mind of its own and a weird sense of humor. Other groups that regularly take the Mad Dogs stage include Candlebox, which also plays tomorrow, Fighting Cocks, Forced Entry and Slam Suzzane.

"I've been lucky," says Jewell. "I've surrounded myself with really good people who know how to take care of their responsibilities. We have good bar management and good band policies. I just watch the money."

Not that Mad Dogs is that different from it's predecessor. True, Jewell has greatly increased the beer list and made some esthetic changes, but it's still that little noise box on the side of Roosevelt Way.

"We call it `a club,"' Jewell chuckles. "They're all taverns to me. And to call it a `nightclub' is even funnier. I just always figured it was a neighborhood beer joint. As long as there's people in it having a good time, that's good enough for me. I guess they can call it whatever they want.